A discreet facility in a residential area of Fair Oaks, just outside Sacramento, is giving women another shot at life. The reentry facility, operated by Centerpoint Inc. under the supervision of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, helps female offenders increase their chances of success and steer clear of a life of crime once back in the community.
Those with the program say it costs more to incarcerate the women in prisons than it does to work with them in the reentry facility.
Currently, 19 women are housed in the facility with some of the mothers allowed full-time or weekend visits with their children. To help the women with reentering the community, some supplies are needed. The program is seeking donations of clothes, toys and shoes.
Many of the women arrive directly from prison with nothing but the clothes on their back and shoes on their feet. They need clothes to wear while in the program as well as professional attire as they seek employment.
Female offenders can live in the facility for up to 15 months as they focus on preparing themselves to be independent and successful in their reentry. While at the facility, the female offenders take cognitive behavioral classes, substance abuse treatment coursework, do chores and some take college courses.
CBS 13 news paid a visit to the facility and interviewed some of the officials and those in the new program.
Deborah Shoup, the program’s parole agent, said the women are making positive strides.
“Unfortunately addiction knows no bounds,” she told CBS 13. “It knows no race or class, or financial status or neighborhood, so the reality is they need to be in the community.”
When Samantha R. completed her prison sentence for burglary, she opted for the women’s re-entry program rather than going home.
“I wanted to for once say OK, obviously because I came to prison I wasn’t doing it right my way,” she told CBS 13.
Samantha said much of her chances at success rely on a change of attitude.
“I no longer think of self or what I can get from the world but more about what I can give to my kids and to the world instead,” she said.
To learn more about making a donation, call (916) 962-2800.
Learn more about the program at http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/rehabilitation/female-offender-treatment-employment-program.html
http://www.insidecdcr.ca.gov/2015/01/new-womens-reentry-facility-needs-toys-clothes-shoes/